Oscars 2016: Annie Award Nominations

They just announced the Annie Award nominations. Which I don’t particularly care about, because this is one guild that tends to not really be much of a help in gauging the Animated Feature category. Typically that category you can eyeball and get at minimum 4/5.

But it’s a guild, so I look at it. So here we go with this year’s Annie Award nominations:

Best Animated Feature

Finding Dory

Kubo and the Two Strings

Kung Fu Panda 3

Moana

Zootopia

Likely 4/5 of your final category.

Of the 27 eligible films, I’ve seen 18 of them. There are only two more left I’d give even a remote shot to that I’ve yet to see, Sing and My Life as a Zucchini. (The other seven legitimately don’t matter.) And I can’t imagine, in terms of quality, that they go anywhere else besides the four movies on this list not named Kung Fu Panda.

The fifth spot I’m assuming is The Red Turtle, unless they really sacrifice quality for money and go for Secret Life of Pets and/or Sing. Having seen everything else, I can’t see any of them coming close to making it.

Best Animated Feature – Independent

Long Way North

Miss Hokusai

My Life as a Zucchini

The Red Turtle

Your Name

See, now that I know this category exists, I see that Kung Fu Panda nomination as a complete rejection of Illumination by the guild. Which gives me some hope that they will put Red Turtle on their final list. Long Way North shouldn’t make it. Having seen Hokusai, that would surprise me if they went that way. I could barely get through Your Name, having had to watch it twice to actually finish it whilst paying attention, so I can’t imagine the voters going that way. Zucchini is a wild card. I could see it sneak on in one of those Disney/Pixar rejection years.

Best Animated Short Subject

Blind Vaysha

Deer Flower

Path Title Sequence

Pearl

Piper

Well, three of these made the shortlist, so that’s good, I guess. I’ve barely glanced at that, so I cannot comment on this category at all.

Animated Effects in an Animated Production

Kubo and the Two Strings

Kung Fu Panda 3

Moana

The Red Turtle

Zootopia

If Moana or Kubo doesn’t win this, it will be a travesty.

Animated Effects in a Live Action Production

Deepwater Horizon

Doctor Strange

Ghostbusters

The BFG

Warcraft

I’m guessing…. Strange? No idea. Haven’t seen it, but the others are uninspiring.

Character Animation in an Animated Feature Production

Finding Dory

Kubo and the Two Strings

Kung Fu Panda 3

Zootopia

Kubo. No contest.

Character Animation in a Live Action Production

Captain America: Civil War

Games of Thrones

The Jungle Book

Warcraft

Jungle Book. No contest.

Character Design in an Animated Feature Production

Kubo and the Two Strings

Moana

The Secret Life of Pets

Trolls

Zootopia

Kubo.

Directing in an Animated Feature Production

Kubo and the Two Strings

My Life as a Zucchini

The Red Turtle

Your Name

Zootopia

Kubo or Red Turtle.

Music in an Animated Feature Production

Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders

Sing

The Little Prince

The Red Turtle

The Secret Life of Pets

Red Turtle.

In case it’s not obvious, I’m just picking what should win. I don’t care what does win and these are all meaningless to the category. Mostly I’m just here telling you what is nominated and then openly stating my opinion. You know, like the internet.

Production Design in an Animated Feature Production

Kubo and the Two Strings

Kung Fu Panda 3

The Little Prince

Trolls

Zootopia

Kubo. Zootopia a distant second.

Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production

Finding Dory

Kubo and the Two Strings

Moana

Trolls

Zootopia

Haven’t seen the storyboards, so I have no idea.

Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production

Kubo and the Two Strings (Art Parkinson as Kubo)

Moana (Auli’i Cravalho as Moana)

Storks (Katie Crown as Tulip)

Trolls (Zooey Deschanel as Bridget)

Zootopia (Jason Bateman as Nick Wilde)

Moana should win. Also had no idea Zooey Deschanel was even in Trolls. Probably because I was boxing my ears during the entire thing.

Writing in an Animated Feature Production

Kubo and the Two Strings

My Life as a Zucchini

The Red Turtle

Zootopia

Kubo I guess.

Editorial in an Animated Feature Production

April and the Extraordinary World

Kubo and the Two Strings

Moana

Sausage Party

Zootopia

If Editorial means Editing, then Kubo. If Editorial means “giving an opinion on a topical issue” then Sausage Party.

2 responses

If Kubo wins for Writing, I will flip a freakin’ table. I’m willing to award it for the technical categories, but Writing? Absolutely not. The timeliness of Zootopia’s themes should and ought to favor its chances in that category.

By the way, in case you haven’t read my (admittedly long) comment from your article about the Best Animated Feature eligibles, I really believe that you’re underestimating Your Name’s chances. You may have *tried* to watch it twice, but the people over in Japan have watched it and re-watched it enough for it to now only rank below Howl’s Moving Castle, Frozen, and Spirited Away in the list of the highest grossing animated films of all time at the Japanese box office.

Your Name got a Best Director Annie nomination. Moana, Finding Dory, and Miss Hokusai did not.

(Probably deserved a Writing nom as well, but) I think that Your Name’s top Independent category nom coupled with its Directing category nom (which, interestingly enough, features three Independent features and just two mainstream features [of which only one is a runaway box-office success worldwide]) are telling enough that its support is emerging. All Your Name might need is a solid North American run and then a nomination could be within its reach.

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